Stan Graham's Leisure Guide for North and West Yorkshire
Leeds Jazz Festival 2025 continued with Camilla George at Howard Assembly Room, and what a show it was. From the cast of thousands the previous night, we were given a superb set by a quartet – quite the contrast. Camilla George is a female saxophonist, composer, bandleader and innovator, with all of the components being…
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It’s that time of year again, Spring Bank Holiday and Leeds Jazz Festival, for some reason they always seem to coincide – what are the odds? The Champagne was smashed against the hull to launch this year’s Festival at Howard Assembly Room with a collection of amazing local talent, not all of whom were performers…
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I must admit to having a bit of a thing about shoes. I suppose it started in my teens when, not being quite a mod, but interested in the more preppy style, I always had a pair of Chelsea boots and Clarks sand coloured desert boots in my wardrobe, in fact, I still do, not…
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It’s not often that I spend a Tuesday tea time dancing to the beat of two African drummers, in fact I can’t remember it ever happening before, but this event was to change that. I was at the amazing Hyde Park Picture House for the launch of the 2025 Leeds International African Arts Festival, but…
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I was always told that using upper case characters was the equivalent of shouting, well, Emergence Dance Company are quite partial to capital letters but it doesn’t matter, because they have something to shout about. Having said that, they are dancers so don’t speak at all. The group is a postgraduate dance company of Joss…
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Whoever compiles the schedule for productions at Leeds Playhouse played a blinder on Thursday night. For those of you who are not familiar with the venue, it comprises four spaces; Quarry, which is the largest auditorium, Courtyard, my favourite, a smaller one with the most comfortable seating, both in the upholstery and legroom departments, Bramall…
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The full title of this production is Alan Bleasedale’s Boys From The Black Stuff by James Graham and is an adaptation of the BBC television series broadcast in late 1982. Two years earlier Alan Bleasedale had written a work for the BBC series of one-off dramas, Play For Today, called simply The Black Stuff, which…
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I opened my review of Bat Out Of Hell by referencing Meatloaf’s raunchy performance of Paradise By The Dashboard Light on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1978. If I thought that was worthy of an 18 certificate, it was made to look like CBeebies in comparison to the action in Cruel Intentions. It has…
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To mark Bradford’s tenure as UK City of Culture, Opera North decided to spread the love and stage the first two performances of the 2025 Tour of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at St Georges Hall, handily situated across the road from the Interchange. I say ‘staged’ advisedly, as that is the term used to describe the…
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I remember vividly the first time I saw Meat Loaf on television. It was over the Christmas holiday in 1978 when my wife, her sister and her husband and my mother-in-law, were watching the Old Grey Whistle Test Review of the Year. Whilst not prudes, my relatives were hardly down and dirty, so the atmosphere…
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Tyke It To The Limit 